Category: Events

My Damn Dharma
Blog, Writing

My Damn Dharma

Whack-a-Mole-2

I never thought my life’s purpose would be largely influenced by a childhood arcade game.

The first time I ever heard the word, “Dharma” was in a vinyasa yoga class in Boulder Colorado, fifteen years ago. My teacher, Brandon began the class seated criss-cross-apple -sauce style, explaining to us that there is a purpose in all that we do; our dharma.

Not yet familiar with Sanskrit, the language that forms the foundation of Yoga, I thought Brandon had hiccoughed mid-word. What was the word he was trying to say, was it direction? duty?… And why the hell are we starting a power yoga class seated listening to chit chat? Just then, something he said cut through my irreverent irritation.…

In the Flow, in Elevation Outdoors
Events, Published, SUP Yoga, Writing, Yoga

In the Flow, in Elevation Outdoors

http://www.elevationoutdoors.com/in-the-flow/19187559003_d9bb8cfd59_o

Yoga on a stand-up paddleboard may sound intimidating, but get out on the water and you will find it easier than imagined. Here are seven reasons why you should give it a try.

One of the first things I learned about yoga was how vital it is to feel the ground beneath your feet. So the first time I attempted a downward facing dog pose while teetering precariously on a stand-up paddleboard (SUP), I was pretty sure I’d lost my mind.

Why the heck would someone practice yoga on the water? Well, let me tell you exactly why:

…
Planes vs. Peacocks
Blog, SUP Yoga, Writing, Yoga

Planes vs. Peacocks

 

emily_valentine_2010_5_sml I never thought I’d be bullied by a 65 yr old man with a toy airplane.

Over a month ago, I was teaching an all-levels Standup Paddleboard Yoga class at a community lake. The class began like all the others I’d been teaching for the last three years: I did a brief on land introduction to paddleboarding and how to access yoga poses while balancing on the water. Then we launched our boards and paddled for about 20 minutes to a secluded area in the southwestern part of the water. On the way we paddled past an empty swim beach (which opens at 10am, the same time my class ends) where 8 men, ranging in age from about 65 …

Divorcing Harley Davidson
Blog, Writing

Divorcing Harley Davidson

FullSizeRenderIn midst of hoards of bikers honeymooning with their motorcycles, I decided to call it quits. As it is with the ending of any relationship, this one had been rocky for quite some time. Of course in the beginning I was in love and it was blissful, from the moment I saw my first Harley.

It was early June of 1978, in central Illinois, when the air was still cool but held the promise of heat that would be liquefying asphalt come August. I dropped my mom’s hand in the Kroger’s parking lot, blinded by sunlight glinting off the thundering pipes, and watched the burly bearded driver and his much younger looking blonde passenger cruise around the corner until my …

Events, SUP Yoga, Yoga

SUP Yoga wins Daily Camera’s best of 2014: Most Interesting Workout

Most interesting Workout of 2014: Stand-up Paddleboard Yoga

 

Imagine doing a headstand on a paddleboard in the middle of the reservoir. Shavasana while bobbing with the gentle ripples as boats drive by. This unique class fuses stand-up paddleboarding with yoga, which completely transforms the yoga experience and also gets your small, stabilizing muscles firing to keep you from toppling over. Doing yoga on an unstable surface really highlights the natural imbalances in your body to increase awareness and symmetry.

Plus, it’s beyond fun.

Rocky Mountain Paddleboard’s (rockymtnpaddleboard.com) classes on the Boulder Res are so popular they regularly sell out. Add this to your warm-weather bucket list.

…
Blog, Events, Writing, Yoga

‘Tis the season for giving, but I’m thinking about stealing.

images‘Tis the season of giving, but I’m thinking about stealing.

It was a Thursday in late November. I walked in to teach a noon yoga class that I was subbing for one of the owners of The Yoga Pod. I had planned on using the topic of Stealing as the theme, or what are often referred to as Dharma Talks. These are spiritual or philosophical concepts woven into the foundation of the class. The word “dharma” comes from the Sanskrit root dhri, meaning to “uphold” or to “sustain.” From this perspective, the best way to think of dharma is to say: that which upholds or sustains the positive order of things: the nation, the community, the family …

Blog, Events, Writing

Chanting In My Helmet

images-1It turns out that you can use Vedic (Sanskrit) Chanting instead of taking 2 Valium, although it’s not marketed quite that way. Actually, I don’t know if there’s really a marketing campaign for chanting. Yet.

I first got turned on to chanting while laying in corpse pose in one of my first yoga classes. My mind was absorbed with the absurdity of being alive and trying to play dead, which was how I interpreted the purpose of corpse pose (Savasana). This is so dumb, what’s the point? I wondered. I would later learn that such incessant thoughts are called “citta vriti,” often translated as “monkey mind”. And better yet, when I began studying the Yoga Sutras, I learned “Yogacitta …

Blog, Writing

The Thing About Thirst

images-2I’ve never been so alive as when I was dying of thirst. I have always been compelled by thirst, after all, it is one of the non-negotiable things about being human, our bodies are about 60% water and still we’re always thirsty for something. I’ve thirsted for a lot of things in my life: love, safety, acceptance. I know that sometimes the human brain has trouble distinguishing between thirst & hunger, but physical and spiritual hunger seems to come from a slightly different place; thirst is a seeking and it is both universal and unique to each one of us.

This lifelong spiritual thirst of mine, the desire for connection, for intimacy, is one of the things that brought me …

Blog, Writing

Seduction

images-3Great loves often begin when things go wrong.

Desperation has been my ticket to many things, including yoga. I took my first yoga class in 1999, because I was desperate. I had sustained a shoulder injury and had tried everything to heal it. I began to notice the blissed-out calm on the faces on the peaceful folks coming out of the yoga class at my gym. They looked yoga-stoned and I wanted some of what they had. So when I saw an offer for a free week of yoga classes, I signed up. My first svelte-bodied yoga instructor had dark curly hair and even though she was only 30, her wisdom about the practice of yoga and lack of ego …

Blog, Writing

Why Writing a Book is the Worst and Best Decision I Ever Made

images-4The truth is, I love books.

I know that, in this day and age, actual books made with paper and glue are becoming somewhat obsolete, nudged out by Kindles, iBooks, audio books, etc but none of them seduce me in the same way as a real book. Holding a thick paperback in my hands, letting the black print of the words gaze softly into=my eyes is a magical feeling.

But despite my lifelong book love affair, I never dreamed of actually being an author. That was reserved for those, well, inspirational folk.

See, It’s all yoga’s fault.

I never would have taken on the monumental task of bringing a book to life if it wasn’t for that damn pigeon pose. …

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